Flair passengers from Ontario stranded in Calgary with no clear solutions

A family from Ontario is stranded in Calgary after flights from Flair Airlines have been delayed or cancelled altogether.

Taura Truba says she decided, as a Christmas gift for the family, to take a getaway trip to Calgary.

Things got off to a rocky start when the original flight had to be rebooked because the airline cancelled their reservation in advance.

After sorting that out, their return flight home wasn’t any better.

“It was early afternoon, and we get an email from Flair, telling us, informing us that our flight on the 20th, that Sunday, had been cancelled and that they had rebooked us for the 30th, so 10 days later,” Truba told CityNews.

“There’s been no offer of compensation in any way other than to rebook our tickets for several days later.”

In an update Tuesday afternoon, Truba said in an email the rebooked flight has now been cancelled.

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When calling Flair Airline customer support, she says she was told to rebook the flight herself to be reimbursed after.

However, she declined to do so due to the high ticket prices on short notice, and based on what the airline supervisor said to her.

“I talked to one of the supervisors, and she said the information we are getting from higher-ups is telling us that other airlines will not take bookings from us. They won’t take our payment,” Truba said.

She says her partner’s job could not wait, and he had to book another flight back to Ontario without a reimbursement guarantee.

But she and their son had to stay, although he was supposed to return to school Monday.

“We are stuck here,” she said. “On Flair’s side, they’ve offered nothing other than sorry for the inconvenience.”

She says she has not received any booking confirmation or compensation so far and that most of the conversations with Flair have been over the phone.

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Dr. Gabor Lukasc, the president of Air Passenger Rights, says airlines seek to find reasons outside of taking any responsibility.

“Airlines try to argue that it’s the passenger that has to prove that the flight was delayed or cancelled for reasons within the carrier’s control, which is absurd. And we see the airlines just making up excuses,” Lukasc said.

“Even under the current – quite flawed – laws, it’s clear that the airline cannot just walk away from the obligation to transport you.”

CityNews reached out to Flair airlines, and a statement from a Flair spokesperson says requests for rebooking are looked at on a case-by-case basis.

“However, passengers that are impacted by certain cancellations are being rebooked by Flair Airlines on the next available Flair flight, or on other airlines directly, or being reimbursed by Flair directly if they have rebooked themselves,” the statement reads.